Child&#39;s collapsible chair



May 19, 1964 1.. ROBINSON CHILD'S COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR Filed Feb. 26, 1962BINSQN 4/ 3,133,760 Patented May 19., 1964 3,133,760 CHILDS CGLLAPSIBLECHAIR Lytton Robinson, Dispensary, Mercury, Nev. Filed Feb. 26, 1962,Ser. No. 175,657 7 Claims. (Cl. 297-174) This invention relates to acollapsible chair for children and constitutes a continuation-in-part ofmy copending patent application Serial No. 838,742, filed September 8,1959, and entitled Childs Collapsible Chair, now abancloned.

chairs, have certain inherent disadvantages. More often than not, suchchairs are susceptible of tilting over, particularly if the child isactive and leans or sways from side to side. Furthermore, such chairsare oftentimes difiicult to carry from place to place. In otherinstances, the chairs are not able to be conveniently opened forreceiving or removing the child; in other faces, they are notsusceptible of being locked to maintain the child therein. It is,therefore, an object of the present invention to a fully collapsiblechilds chair, which may be conveniently carried from place to place, andyet which is easy placement of the child therein or movement of thechild as required.

Another object of the invention is to provide a collapsible infants orchilds chair which has a rugged, simple f Without the possibility oftilting or other unstable movement of the chair.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention aregenerally achieved by providing a collapsible childs chair forattachment to a table top which comprises vertical back means. Upperhorizontal frame A lower horizontal frame means is pivotably coupled toa lower end portion of the back means. Seat means lower horizontal framemeans.

had by reference to the drawings, showing merely an illustrativeembodiment, and in which:

1 is a perspective view of the improved collapsible childs chairaccording to the present invention in open position mounted to a tabletop indicated by the dotted lines;

FIGURE 2 chair taken in the direction of the arrow 2 of FIGURE 1;

to securing the same to a table top;

, FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of one of theframe members of the chair of FIG- URE 1; and,

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view partly cut away of one of thevertical frame members for engaging the under side of the table as shownin FIGURE 1.

As shown, the back rest 12 constitutes part of a back means includingvertical tubular supports 13 and 14 constituting the upwardly extendingarms of a U-shaped member having a lower horizontal connecting portion15. The lower edge of the back rest 12 is swingably coupled to thehorizontal portion sleeves may 24 in turn pivotable arrangement providedby the sleeves and fork structures. The other ends of the upperhorizontal frame tubes 25 and 26 terminate at 2'7 and 28 in positionsabove the top surface of the table It).

upper horizontal frame members. the upper ends of letter d ness of thetable top 10.

The assembly is completed by a brace means including an intermediateU-shaped tubular he upper ends of are pivoted at 45 and 46 to the upperhorizontal frame members 27 and 28. Intermediate portions of thevertical braces at 47 and 48 to the lower horizontal frame members 29and 30. Adjacent the lower end of the vertical brace portion 42, thereis provided a horizontal brace member 49 pivoted at 50 to the lower endof the vertical brace 42 and extending under and generally parallel tothe second horizontal frame member 29 to pivot to the vertical frametube as at 51. This brace means effectively serves to inter-connect thevertical frame means with the upper and lower horizontal frame means insuch a manner as to cause a parallelogram type of collapsing of the samewhen it is desired to collapse the chair.

To positively prevent any inadvertent collapsing of the structure, thereare provided locking brace means in the form of overlapping members 52and 53 having their overlapping ends pivoted together as at 54 and theirouter ends pivoted to the lower horizontal brace member 3% as at 55 andto the vertical frame member 36 as at 56. An abutting stop 57 isprovided on the overlapping end portion of the member 52 to engage thelower edge of the overlapping member 53 and thus check movement of themembers to a substantially aligned position. Preferably, the alignmentis slightly over centered so that a positive locking action will beinsured. Intentional crooking of the members, on the other hand, willenable the entire chair to be readily collapsed in the manner of acollapsing parallelogram.

An important feature of this invention is the sliding pivot couplingbetween the upper horizontal frame tubes 25 and 26 and the upper ends ofthe vertical back means comprising the tubes 13 and 14. With particularreference to FIGURE 3, it will be noted that as a consequence of thissliding and pivotal coupling arrangement provided by the sleeve such asthe sleeve 24, the spacing as indicated by the letter d in FIGURE 3between the upper feet and 41 of the vertical frame member and theopposing ends of the upper horizontal frame members shown at 27 and 28may be varied without in any sense collapsing the structure and withouthaving to change the ninety degree angular relationship between thevertical frame means and the lower horizontal frame means. Thus, thelocking braces 52 and 53 may remain locked while the upper horizontalframe members are pivoted about the pivot points and 46 to vary thespacing as indicated by the letter d in FIGURE 3. Thus, securement ofthe collapsible chair to the table top 10 is greatly facilitated sinceit is a simple matter to increase the spacing d sufficiently to readilyaccommodate the thickness of the table and then slide the sleeves 24 and25 rearwardly until the components assume the relative positionsillustrated in FIGURE 1.

In order that any inadvertent sliding and pivoting movement of thesleeve and fork structures as described be avoided, there is provided alocking button shown in detail in FIGURE 4 on the ends of at least oneof the tubular members 25 or 26. Thus, as shown in FIGURE 4, a button 58is arranged to project normally above the tube member 26 being biasedupwardly by a leaf spring 59 internally within the tube 26. Also, theend of the tube is provided with a stationary projection or button 60.With this arrangement, forward movement of the tube 26 within the sleeve24 in a direction to the left as viewed in FIGURE 4 will be checked bythe stationary button 60 being received within a coved portion 61 of thesleeve to prevent movement of the tube 26 completely out of the sleeve.In this position, the button 58 will be free of the front end of thesleeve 24 and will thus pop up, thereby locking the sleeve 24 and tube26 against relative movement. When it is desired to effect relativemovement to vary the spacing d as described in FIG- URE 3, the button 58may be manually depressed, thereby permitting the tube 26 to sliderearwardly within the sleeve 24 as shown in FIGURE 4.

It will be readily appreciated that some variation in the distance d asshown in FIGURE 1 may be tolerated by bending of the tubes themselves.However, in order that the collapsible chair may be adapted to tables ofconsiderable variation in table top thickness, it is desirable to makeeach of the vertical tubes 35 and 36 of the vertical frame meansadjustable in overall length. This is achieved as illustrated in FIGURE4 by means of the telescoping tubular end portions 38 and 39. Thesetelescoping tubes are receivable within the main tube members 35 and 36,the telescoping member 39 being provided with an elongated slot 62receiving a screw 63 in the outer telescoping member 36 for guiding thetelescoping movement and checking the extent of telescoping movement. Acompression spring 64 is incorporated within the tubular member 36 asshown so that the telescoping tubes 38 and 39 and end engaging shoes 40and 41 are always biased upwardly. With this arrangement, the variationpossible for the distance d is equal to the length of the slot 62 in thetelescoping tube 39.

The operation of the childs collapsible chair will be evident from theforegoing description. Initially, the chair is collapsed by crooking theoverlapping members 52 and 53 shown in FIGURE 3 and as indicated bydotted lines so that the right angular relationship between the verticalframe means and lower horizontal frame means can change in aparallelogram type manner to collapse the members. In this connection,it should be noted that it is not necessary that the sleeve 24 slide onthe upper horizontal frame member 26 during the collapsing operation butmay remain locked in position by the detent button 53. In this latterinstance, the upper and lower horizontal frame means will remainsubstantially parallel during the collapsing operation as will also thevertical frame means 36 and the intermediate vertical braces 43. Withthe chair completely collapsed, it is simple to transport from one areato another.

To secure the chair to the table 10, it is preferable to open the chaircompletely and lock the overlapping members 52 and 53 so that the samewill assume the position shown in FIGURE 1. The small detent button 58may then be depressed and the sleeves 23 and 24 slid forwardly so thatthe ends 27 and 28 of the upper horizontal frame members may be raisedto increase the spacing d as indicated at d in FIGURE 3. The table edgemay then readily be engaged or sandwiched between the upper framemembers and the upper ends of the vertical frame tubes.

After the chair has been positioned as described, the sleeves 23 and 24are then urged rearwardly which will bring the upper ends 27 and 28 ofthe horizontal frame members against the table top until the structureis altered from the position shown in FIGURE 3 to that shown inFIGURE 1. The telescoping tubular portions 38 and 39 will be forcedwithin the tubular members 35 and 36 in the event the table isrelatively thick so that the spacing d will adjust itself automaticallyto the thickness of the table top. When the sleeves 23 and 24 are fullyretracted, the detent buttons 58 will pop out to lock the same inposition. The chair is then ready to receive a child.

Removal of the chair from the edge of the table 10 is achieved in areverse manner by simply pressing the detent button such as indicated at58 in FIGURE 4 and sliding the sleeves 23 and 24 forwardly along theupper horizontal frame members 25 and 26. This action will causepivoting about the pivot 46 to raise the front ends 27 and 28 and enableeasy removal of the chair from the edge of the table. The lockingmembers 52 and 53 may then be crooked and the entire structure readilycollapsed for transportation or storage.

While only one particular embodiment of this invention has been setforth and described, various modifications that fall within the scopeand spirit of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art. Thechilds collapsible chair is therefore not to be thought of as limited tothe exact embodiment set forth merely for illustrative purposes.

What is claimed is:

1. A collapsible childs chair for attachment to a table AA A 44 g r3,133,760 5 top, said chair comprising: vertical back means; uppermembers enables collapsing of said chair in the manner horizontal framemeans; sliding pivot means slidably pivof a parallelogram. oting one endof said upper horizontal frame means with A Collapsible childs Cha raccording to claim in an upper d portion of id back eans; s idhorizontal which said sliding pivot means includes a sleeve member framemeans including another end portion designed to 5 Slidable n S id 116end of said upper horizontal frame ack means, seat means coupled to sa1dlower honzontal and pivoted to diametrically opposite sides of sa1dsleeve frame means; vertical frame means pivotably connected 50 thatSaid Sleeve y Swing in a Vertical P to said lower horizontal framemeans, said vertical frame A Collapsible childs Chair according to Claimill means having one end designed to be received under said which thePortion of sa1d pp horizontal brace m ans t bl t m ll b l d th d of dupper receivable In said sleeve includes spring biased button horlzontalframe means, at least one vertical brace posimeans normally Posltlohedto block telescoplhg movebrace being pivoted to sa1d upper horizontalframe means; A p childs Chair according to claim ill a honzontal bracehavmg one d plvoted to d i l WhlCh sa1d one end of said vertical framemeans lncludes brace ad acent to its lower end and having its other enda tetescoplng tube telimlhatlhg 111 an under table el'lganhg extendingparallel to and below said lower horizontal lf h P Y received in aremaining P frame means to pivot to said vertical frame means and t ofsa1d Vertlcal frame means, and Spring means b a locking brace forholding sa1d lower horizontal frame salfi telescoplhg tube p y to healagainst the means and said vertical frame means at right angles to underslde of said table.

each other, said sliding pivot means enabling said upper A Qouapstblechilds chair achordillg to claim n horizontal frame means to be pivotedabout the Pivot WhlCh sa1d vertical back means includes a U-shaped tubeand said one end f Said vertical frame means may be tion of saidU-shaped tube, in which said vertical frame varied, the one end of saidupper horizontal frame means mean? comprises a p tube, the n s f thearms sliding and pivoting relative to said back means so that of sa1d hP t engaging h nd r ide of said said vertical spacing can be changedwith said lower table: and m Whlch Said Vertical brace C mprises ahorizontal frame means and said vertical frame means h P tube, the armsof Which are pivote at Intert fl h l at h angles by sa1d lockmg bracemediate points to said lower horizontal frame means and tion thereof,whereby said one portion may be swung References Cited in the file ofthis Patent out of its normal position to define an opening in saidUNITED STATES PATENTS back means; and clip means intercoupling said onepor- 40 5 5 McNamara Aug 11 1908 1,049,159 Simmel Dec. 31, 1912 3. Acollapsible childs chair according to claim 1, in 2,451,667 Ducey Oct.19 1948 which said locking brace includes two overlapping mem- 2 545 313Jackson Mar. 20, 1951 bers ivoted together and extending between saidlower 2 707,9 7 Gibson May 10 1955 2,954,073 Junkunc Sept. 27, 1960pivoted respectively to said lower horizontal frame means FOREIGNPATENTS and said vertical frame means so that crooking of said 374,786 ace Feb. 18, 1907

1. A COLLAPSIBLE CHILD''S CHAIR FOR ATTACHMENT TO A TABLE TOP, SAIDCHAIR COMPRISING: VERTICAL BACK MEANS; UPPER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS;SLIDING PIVOT MEANS SLIDABLY PIVOTING ONE END OF SAID UPPER HORIZONTALFRAME MEANS WITH AN UPPER END PORTION OF SAID BACK MEANS; SAIDHORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS INCLUDING ANOTHER END PORTION DESIGNED TO BERECEIVED OVER SAID TABLE TOP; LOWER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS PIVOTABLYCOUPLED TO A LOWER END PORTION OF SAID BACK MEANS; SEAT MEANS COUPLED TOSAID LOWER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS; VERTICAL FRAME MEANS PIVOTABLYCONNECTED TO SAID LOWER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS, SAID VERTICAL FRAMEMEANS HAVING ONE END DESIGNED TO BE RECEIVED UNDER SAID TABLE TOPVERTICALLY BELOW SAID OTHER END OF SAID UPPER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS; ATLEAST ONE VERTICAL BRACE POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID VERTICAL FRAME MEANSAND SAID BACK MEANS AND PIVOTED INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS TO SAID LOWERHORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS, THE UPPER END OF SAID VERTICAL BRACE BEINGPIVOTED TO SAID UPPER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS; A HORIZONTAL BRACE HAVINGONE END PIVOTED TO SAID VERTICAL BRACE ADJACENT TO ITS LOWER END ANDHAVING ITS OTHER END EXTENDING PARALLEL TO AND BELOW SAID LOWERHORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS TO PIVOT TO SAID VERTICAL FRAME MEANS; AND ALOCKING BRACE FOR HOLDING SAID LOWER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS AND SAIDVERTICAL FRAME MEANS AT RIGHT ANGLES TO EACH OTHER, SAID SLIDING PIVOTMEANS ENABLING SAID UPPER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS TO BE PIVOTED ABOUT THEPIVOT POINT OF SAID UPPER END OF SAID VERTICAL BRACE SO THAT THEVERTICAL SPACING BETWEEN SAID ANOTHER END PORTION THEREOF AND SAID ONEEND OF SAID VERTICAL FRAME MEANS MAY BE VARIED, THE ONE END OF SAIDUPPER HORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS SLIDING AND PIVOTING RELATIVE TO SAID BACKMEANS SO THAT SAID VERTICAL SPACING CAN BE CHANGED WITH SAID LOWERHORIZONTAL FRAME MEANS AND SAID VERTICAL FRAME MEANS STILL HELD AT RIGHTANGLES BY SAID LOCKING BRACE.